The meaning of Shiba Inu

The name is still in question, since it has different meanings. "Inu" is the Japanese word for dog, but the origin of "Shiba" is less clear. The "Shiba" means "brushwood" in Japanese and it refers to a type of tree or leaves that turn red in the fall. This leads to some to believe that the Shiba Inu  was name after this because the dogs were used to hunt in the wild or the Shiba Inu most common color is red, similar to the leaves in the fall. However, in old Nagano dialect, the word "Shiba" also means "small", this might be a reference to the dog's small size. Which the Shiba Inu is sometimes  translated as "Little Brushwood Dog".